NC Voters: Drill, Don’t Tax

Voters Reject Increase in Taxes on Oil Companies

Raleigh, NC – Only one-third of North Carolina voters agree that increasing taxes on oil companies is a solution to reduce record-high gas prices. Half of voters feel prices can be reduced through increased domestic production of oil.

“If we look at last month and this month’s DecisionMaker poll results, a trend emerges of strong public support among North Carolina voters for increased domestic energy exploration,” said Francis DeLuca, Executive Director of the Civitas Institute. Last month’s DecisionMaker poll revealed that 68 percent of voters supported opening North Carolina’s coastal waters to increased oil and gas drilling.

Click here for last months question on drilling off the coast of North Carolina

When asked which action will have the most effect on reducing gas prices, 50 percent of voters support an increase of drilling, while only 33 percent support increased taxes on oil company profits. 16 percent are not sure.

“A windfall profit tax on oil companies does nothing to increase our supply of oil,” said DeLuca. “North Carolina voters realize the need for increased exploration and drilling domestically in order to reduce the price at the pump. It appears voters agree more with Senator McCain’s proposal to increase drilling to reduce high prices at the pump than they do with Senator Obama’s plan to enact higher taxes on oil companies.”

The study of 600 registered voters was conducted June 11-13 by Tel Opinion Research of Alexandria, Virginia. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, respondents interviewed voted in either the 2002, 2004 or 2006 general election or were newly registered voters since 2006. The voters were interviewed using live callers.
The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95% of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +- 4% of the “True Values.” “True Values” refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in either the 2002, 2004 or 2006 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2006.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS WOULD HAVE THE MOST EFFECT ON BRINGING DOWN THE COST OF GAS: